I tell the men who come to me to be married that in taking this woman to be your wife, you are giving up your identity as your own man. You are now entering a life where you live for this woman. You will become, in the eyes of God, one flesh with her. You are to give your life away to her. I tell the woman that in taking his name, in becoming his wife, you are submitting to Him as a believer does to Christ. I remind them that Sarah called her husband Lord. Sometimes that one throws them a bit. No, it never does when they are in love and committed to each other. Submission is no problem where there is love.
I remember years ago hearing the motivational speaker Zig Ziglar. I like him. He is from Mississippi and used to be a salesman. He gives sage advice, especially to salesmen. When I was a manager for Ashland Chemical, I took my salesmen to hear him. He said a lot of good things that really helped us, but the thing I remember most was his introduction of himself. He said, “Hi, I am Mrs. Ziglar’s happy husband!” I have since used that line many times. “I am just Mae Milton’s happy husband.” “I am John Michael Milton’s happy daddy.” Why say that? You know why: Love. Love delights in assuming the identity of the one loved, in marriage, in friendship, even in work.
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My friend, giving your life to the Lord Jesus Christ will not be a loss of identity. Submission is a sweet surrender that brings sonship.
Hi, I am the forgiven sinner, the slave set free, the happy child of the One I love.
Myth 3 — Submission Is a Loss of Purpose
“For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him” (John 17:2, NIV).
Jesus has a very narrow purpose. He is the Mediator of the Covenant. He is the High Priest, holy and unblemished, to go before the Father to present us righteous. He is the Lamb of God to be slain for the sins of His people. “You shall call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins.”6 This is a very limiting role. Paul’s letter to the Philippians speaks about how He submitted to His Father’s will:
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:8-11).
Submission to God the Father caused Jesus to realize His purpose.